1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a device and method for extending the length of a truck cargo space.
2. Description of the Related Art
One of the problems existing in conventional trucks (defined herein as pickup trucks, SUV's and hybrid truck/SUV's) with downwardly-folding tailgates is that of limited loading or cargo space. Conventional trucks have a cargo space limited by the dimensions of the cargo bed itself, defined by two sides, a front end and a rear end or the tailgate.
Older pickup trucks generally comprised 8 foot cargo boxes. Today, families purchase pickup trucks and use them as a second family vehicle. In order to accommodate family use, truck passenger compartments have become larger, with two rows of seats and, in some cases, four entry/exit doors. As a consequence, the cargo box is shortened, in many cases to only 6 feet long.
Many loads that are carried by a truck do not fit neatly within the truck bed, especially smaller framed trucks. Such loads are longer than the length of the truck bed and do not sit within the bed, e.g., lumber and sheetrock. Therefore, in order to properly carry such a load by the particular truck, one of two methods is generally employed.
The first known method is to simply overlay the end of the load on the top of the truck's tailgate with that portion of the load that will not fit within the bed hanging out past the back of the truck. While this method may work with some loads, it can prove to be problematic with other types of loads especially loads that have a large surface area such as lumber. As the load is angled up through the bed of the truck, winds created when driving the truck can get underneath the load and act on it creating lift and possibly lifting the load out of the truck. While tying the load down may help prevent load loss, the wind forces can still cause the load to sway dramatically.
The other primary known method of carrying an oversized load by a truck is to flip down the tailgate in order to extend the overall length of the truck so that the length is the combined length of the truck bed and the height, when closed, of the tailgate. This method allows the load to lay flat within the pickup truck bed and helps minimize load loss problems due to wind forces. However, this method can result in the load falling off the back of the truck when accelerating or moving up a steep incline.
In order to address this problem, gate-attached extension systems have been proposed that place a physical barrier at the end of the extended truck bed. These devices extend the side walls of the truck bed and also form the back wall that was previously formed by the tailgate in its up position. While these prior art devices tend to work well for their intended purpose, they suffer from one or more drawbacks.
For example, such devices are very complex in design and construction, making them expensive to manufacture and relatively difficult to install and use. Other prior art devices are relatively bulky so that when they are installed, the available cargo space is diminished.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a device that extends a truck bed when the tailgate is flipped down to increase the overall cargo space by increasing the length of the truck bed. Such a device must be of relatively simple design and construction so that the device is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and install and is relatively easy to use and maintain. In addition, the device must be relatively compact in design such that once installed within the pickup truck, minimal cargo capacity is lost within the truck bed both when the inventive device is stored as well as deployed.